Think about steel buildings for a second. What do you think of? If you’re like most people, you probably think of hulking pieces of metal that look horrible and are usually just industrial buildings and warehouses. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
You see, we’ve been taught to think of steel as a building material that’s simply used for industrial warehouses and garages. However, there are some fantastic steel buildings that have actually won prominent awards for their building designs. And they don’t look too shabby either!
Whether you’re looking to use Buck Steel for your building purposes or another steel, you’ve got to check out all of these incredible buildings that use steel as their main building material. Read on to learn more!
1. NASCAR Hall of Fame – Charlotte, NC
First up, we have the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, NC. This incredible building has really left its mark on the Charlotte area with tons of money coming in from around the country. The design team aimed to capture the essence of NASCAR and everything that goes with that in architectural form. Using that idea as their base, they thought that the only building that made sense would be one that mimicked a racetrack itself. After all, that’s where all of the action happens in NASCAR!
The team used large, sloping pieces of steel to construct this impressive building. It was really the only material that would have made this building possible. The Hall of Fame won national awards for its incredible design.
2. Barclays Center – Brooklyn, NY
Home of the Brooklyn Nets, the Barclays Center is a 675,000-square foot arena that immediately impresses anyone who sees it. It holds around 18,000 seats, which makes it one of the largest arenas in the New York area. The most iconic feature is the steel lattice that wraps around the structure, giving it an incredibly unique vibe. Steel was the only material that made sense when building something like this.
The Barclays Center is a fantastic example of the versatility of steel as a building material. Especially in a highly urban center like Brooklyn, steel only made sense in the construction process.
3. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency – Springfield VA
With 2.4 million square feet, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) is an incredible feat of construction. When designing the building, the design team not only wanted to expand the capabilities of this world-class intelligence agency, but wanted to give the building an overall cultural transformation.
The building is actually in the shape of a lens, which is fitting seeing as NGA is the nation’s eyes when it comes to geospatial intelligence. This just goes to show how flexible steel is when constructing beautiful designs like this one.
4. City Creek Center Retractable Roof – Salt Lake City
The City Creek Center is an effort by the Church of Latter Day Saints to develop two of the mega urban blocks in Salt Lake City into a huge mixed-used development space. However, the developers wanted an open-air setting in the space, but didn’t want the businesses to be troubled by inclement weather.
So, the design of a retractable steel roof was made to solve this problem. When the weather is great, the roof will be retracted to let in tons of natural light. When the weather is not so good, the roof is brought back in to save the space. How incredible is that?
5. Hl23 – New York
HL23 is an ultra-luxury 14 story building right in New York’s Chelsea district. There are plenty of condos to choose from and is absolutely gorgeous to lay your eyes on. This just goes to show how steel buildings can even be used for the most luxurious of purposes – it’s not just for ugly industrial purposes anymore!
6. UC Berkeley California Memorial Stadium Press Box – Berkeley, Ca
California Memorial Stadium has stood the test of time since 1923 when it was opened to honor the fallen alumni from World War I. However, it was recently discovered that the stadium was at particular risk of earthquakes since it sits right in the middle of a major fault line. So, renovations were undertaken in order to retrofit the stadium and protect it.
However, the major part of the project was the development of a two-story press box on the west end of the stadium. It was designed to achieve a “floating effect” that is absolutely beautiful for anyone who comes to watch the games. How incredible is steel?
7. Lee Hall Iii – Clemson University, Clemson, SC
This 55,000-square foot addition to Clemson University’s College of Architecture, Arts, and Humanities is an incredible feat of engineering. The building houses tons of new spaces for student co-working, offices, and classrooms. And one of the best parts of this building is its sustainable purpose. It has been revered around the nation for its energy efficiency and aims to teach its students about sustainability through the design itself.
In fact, steel is one of the most energy efficient materials out there because of its reusability factor. Who knew?
8. El Dorado Conference Center – El Dorado, AK
One of the most unique pieces on this list, the El Dorado Conference Center combines the past history of this area of the US with future aspirations of timeless quality. This town in Arkansas was once a growing oil-centered community, but has since fallen from fame when the oil ran out. The El Dorado Conference Center is an effort to spur growth in the area and with the flexibility and inexpensive nature of steel, that has been possible.
9. James Turrell Skyspace – Rice University, Houston, TX
This Skyspace is a permanent experimental art installation at Rice University in Houston. It was aimed to be a beautiful space where people can come to see the interaction of atmosphere and light at sunsets and sunrises. It’s also designed for the perfect acoustic performances. This just goes to show how incredible steel can be – it’s even used by artists when designing!
10. The Corner Condominiums – Missoula, Montana
Steel was pretty much the only material that the designers of The Corner Condominiums could use in Missoula. Because of the constraint of the small space they had and the area they were building, steel allowed them the flexibility to build a fantastic space that now houses many families.
Steel is an incredibly durable and flexible material for any building. And it just goes to show with this list that it can even create some great, award-winning buildings.